Unique of the UNICS John Brown: 'I'm the midi-king outside of MJ and Mamba' / News - Basketnews.com

UNICS Kazan are an intrigue as they are making their way back to the EuroLeague this season.

Points this season

46%76,7Points made:76,7Accuracy:46,1%Place in standings:9Record max:109Record min:41Best scorer:Lorenzo BrownTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

It is not easy for a club to make a smooth transition from EuroCup to EuroLeague with some considerable revamps in the roster, but suddenly, UNICS found itself in the race for the playoffs.

High and low at times, they make sure everybody talks about them.

It is not very hard to romanticize this team from Kazan as they are full of colorful characters like Super Mario Hezonja, the inspirational "shush"man Isaiah Canaan, the assist king Lorenzo Brown and surely, "the last artist" John Brown.

We can fairly say that he is a great nominee for the best supporting role Oscars in Euroleague this year. Hard-working, ambitious, spectacular, humble, and funny.

We are lucky to have such a unique player in the competition and as a guest for our Basketnews Talks.

I heard that you are wearing two zeros for a reason. All in all, you had a zero roster number when you were playing for Brindisi, and you stuck with that number, only with adding another zero in Kazan as well.It was a single zero at the time, but at the moment, I had to change that to the double zero when I was on a happy coast in Italy, shout-out Brindisi. Number zero was for 'zero-gravity' because I was doing a lot of highlight dunking at that time.

People say that you make certain sounds when you are dunking. Is that correct?It depends. At the moment, I normally roar. I like to roar after my dunks. Somedays, I do it more than others. I also like to show my vampire mouthpiece.

Also, as many people suggest, you are labeled as the "joker" of the team. But is that the case from your point of view? Who is the funniest guy in UNICS?Honestly, all those guys are clowns. I honestly cannot say who, because they might choose me. But from my perspective, looking out, all of those guys are equally crazy.

UNIKS Kazan / Schedule

ALBA Berlin UNIKS Kazan81-53 Zalgiris Kaunas UNIKS Kazan67-76 UNIKS Kazan Crvena Zvezda BelgradeFri16:00

Was it the same way when you were losing? For instance, was there a bad time when you were losing heavily at the beginning of the season?It was the same. We understood that it would not last forever, and it was only up to us to change the results.

We can't change the way we interact with each other, the mentality. Basketball is a game of runs. So you might have a losing stretch. You might also have a winning stretch, but it's up to you entirely, which one you want to choose.

We just saw it as a bump in the road, and we kept our friendship going, and things turned around for us.

You have a reputation as the best stealer in the EuroLeague. Aren't you afraid of getting into foul trouble early in the game?I used to be cautious and things like that of getting into foul trouble, but now it's ok. They can't call fouls for 40 minutes. So, you know, I pick and choose.

I've been in foul trouble, but that only allows me to be more aggressive because I believe the referees don't want to keep targeting me. So they let me go with a few things. I don't worry about getting in foul trouble anymore.

What's behind your improvement in the mid-range zone, and can we see you shooting more 3-pointers?Midi-king! I'm' the midi-King outside of MJ and the Mamba. That's something that I've been doing since college. It was nothing new for me.

But you know the mid-range is so vast. The moment you step foot inside the three, you are in range. Rains. So it works perfectly for me. People always want me to expand to the three, but I'm just like, 'no, that's not my game'. I don't want to do that.

Maybe you know, I got a few more of them up this season than in the past. So, when I have an opportunity, I take it, but I'm just not going to live and die by that.

Everybody talks about your defensive skills and ability to make steals. But you have another type of art that is not being very much spoken of: the flare screens and the sealing moves.

Which one gives you more satisfaction, a flash one-handed jam that conquers social media or creating a shot with a flare screen that nobody talks about at all?The flare, for sure. Because I enjoy the prosperity of others on the court as well, so when you score, I feel like I've scored. So by me doing that, helping you get open shots.

And if my man helps, I know those guys who make the right play, so I like the team play as a whole.

Even in the summer, I played pickup games with my friends and stuff like that. I don't go and try to score all of the baskets because I'm a professional player. I'd rather lose playing together in a pickup game than try to win with me trying to score all the points.

I love those flare screens because they're unpredictable. You can't know when they're coming. If people utilize them as much as possible, those can open up so many areas on the floor.

Many times you were called a positionless player. People used to say that you are not as big as a 5 and your outside shooting skills were not enough to play 4. Supposedly that puts you into a kind of limbo, but now you're using this to your advantage.

Were there any players that you idolized? Like you think that I might be like him?Honestly, no one. I felt like I wanted to be Kobe Bryant, but I can never be Kobe Bryant.

Actually, I don't watch sports. Like, I don't watch NBA, I didn't watch Euroleague. I don't' watch college. So I never liked studying the game and trying to do them on the court. I never wanted to do this. I played too much basketball to go home and watch basketball.

But can you at least tell me which player you enjoy or hate the most going against, then? Walter Tavares. I don't' like him. Of course, not in terms of a person, but I don't like the fact that he's so big and the man is tall. He's a tower. That's the worst because, like, if you're switching, they are just trying to throw it up to the top. I'm just like, "come on, man".

I understand that he is there. You can use this to your advantage, I can't hate on them. But he's just causing problems because he's so tall. And you know, he's a great rebounder, a great shot blocker. He's just in the way.

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